Life Goes On
by Jillie Rose
Summary: Episode 8, during Kitty's rescue of Nitro, she calls "Hey Rogue!". Plotbunnies ensued. What if they had been meeting up in secret? Oneshot.


Disclaimer: I own the clothes on my back, and the computer, but not these characters. Ah well.

Author's note: I suck at updating. But I had this dream, which led to X-Men watching, which led to this little plot bunny. In Episode 8 of series 1 of _Wolverine and the X Men_, Kitty does an awesome rescue. You know, diving through the air from the X-jet to rescue Nitro, landing on the other plane, and calling, "Hey, Rogue", before diving through the air again and phasing herself and Nitro through the floor. So I thought to myself: hey, they were friends. I bet they still meet up in cafés. Wouldn't that be a great story! So here we are.

This story is for ducky'sgirl, who sent me a lovely review the other week.

Life Goes On:

It was odd, the way things had turned out. Kitty had been furious with Rogue the first time she saw her again after the...incident, because it was family. And you just didn't do that to family. You didn't. But there was a library, and two girls met, and neither could leave, not right then. And neither would have, even if they hadn't been there for a reason. So they had sat, crammed opposite each other in the only available seats, sweaty men and college students all around, with Kitty shooting death glares over the top of her heavyweight reference book, and Rogue trying to ignore her as best she could.

But when Kitty got up to leave, sheaf of notes in hand (because there are still things you just can't find on the Internet) Rogue followed her out. Neither spoke a word until they were out of the library (because there were some rules you just didn't break. Not even for this).

'I'm sorry. And then again, I'm not. My place isn't with you, Shadowcat.' The use of her codename stung. Even though Rogue was Rogue, no name, no identity, they had been Rogue and Kitty in private. They had been friends.

'It's not with them, Rogue.' Rogue shrugged, shaking her head.

'Logan doesn't get it.'

'When did Logan ever get it? Besides, I bet your new "family",' the sarcasm lay heavily on the word, 'aren't much better.'

'They stick together,' Rogue snapped, thinking of Toad.

'But for how long?' Shadowcat responded, thinking of Toad.

There was silence for a moment. They began walking, not really heading anywhere, just walking in step along the sidewalk, being together for a moment or two.

'I don't blame you. Well...not really. You shouldn't have done it, Rogue. You shouldn't have betrayed us.' That was Kitty. Always looking to the good in people. But loyalty was everything to her.

'I did what I had to do to join.'

'Would you do it again?' Ah. That was Kitty, with the razor-sharp insight. Geniuses. Huh.

'I don't know.' The honesty surprised both of them. There was more silence, more walking. They must have gone half a mile or more when Kitty said,

'Do you remember the time we had that Danger Room session, and Wolverine blindfolded us, and I phased us both and we just walked across the room?' She laughed at the memory, and Rogue smiled back.

'Logan was so mad' the older girl replied, 'he couldn't do a thing about it, because we were meant to be working as a team. Do you remember when he made us do an unpowered three-legged race? And we ended up in single – or, rather, double – combat with Bobby and Peter? And they...' she started to laugh. Kitty, also giggling, picked up the thread,

'...and they couldn't fight, because the height difference was too big, and Peter just picked Bobby up and slung him around his front like a baby in a papoose, and tried to take us both on! And do you remember...'

They went on for some time, walking and talking and one would almost have believed it was like old times. But it wasn't, and eventually they had to go back to their respective "families". But not without Kitty extracting a promise to meet up again.

And so they did, every so often, in cafés or in the swimming pool so the scent of the water would mask the scent of Rogue on Kitty's clothes afterwards. It was like having an affair, Kitty supposed. But given the choice of a girly chat with Storm, Emma Frost, or Rogue, Kitty knew which she'd choose every time. And given Rogue's relationship with Domino...well, they weren't unfriendly, but neither liked attachments or complications. Kitty's warmth made up for Rogue's reserve, and Rogue had forgotten how much she had missed it. They very carefully avoided talking about the present, sticking mostly to the past as safer ground. But it was a comfort, nonetheless. They knew each other of old. They were almost friends again.

So yeah, when Kitty had phased through the roof of the plane (several thousand feet up and going at an incredible speed) Rogue had not been too surprised. And when Kitty had looked around for a split second, taken stock, and then raced at Nitro and leapt through the air to phase them both through the floor and onto the Blackbird, with enough presence of mind to call, "Hey Rogue!" Rogue had not been at all shocked. Unlike everyone else, it seemed. Rogue knew: that was just what Kitty did. She had the grace of a dancer, a mind like a razor, and a kick like a mule.

Those two little words led to questions, come the finish. But not terribly awkward questions. There wasn't a telepath strong enough to break Rogue's mental walls, and the psyches in her head would give them a terrible migraine if they did. So there were simply questions. And Rogue had responded: Kitty is a cute kid. We knew each other. She's the sort who would say "hey", even to someone who's currently a mortal enemy.

And they were extra careful about meeting up after that. And life went on.


End file.
